Coherent Control of Penning and Associative Ionization: Insights from Symmetries

TL;DR

This paper proposes a symmetry-based method for coherently controlling Penning and Associative ionization in atomic collisions, demonstrating its effectiveness through computational models of specific atomic systems under feasible experimental conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel symmetry-informed approach for controlling ionization processes, advancing the experimental feasibility of quantum interference-based control.

Findings

Extensive control over ionization processes demonstrated in computational models.

Method applicable to specific atomic collision systems with feasible experimental conditions.

Provides insights into symmetry conditions for quantum control of reactive collisions.

Abstract

Coherent control of reactive atomic and molecular collision processes remains elusive experimentally due to quantum interference-based requirements. Here, with insights from symmetry conditions, a viable method for controlling Penning and Associative ionization in atomic collisions is proposed. Computational applications to He$^*({}^3\text{S})$-Li(${^2\text{S}}$) and Ne$^*{}(^3\text{P}_2$)-Ar($^1\text{S}_0$) show extensive control over the ionization processes under experimentally feasible conditions.